For the renowned child psychologist Bettelheim, fairy tales create a unique way for children to comprehend and come to terms with their inner emotions and the existential question of life. For generations, children have grown up on the tales of Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Hansel and Gretel and numerous other beloved fairy tale characters. However, with an increasing number of parents turning away from this rich literary seam, a new generation are at risk of being left in ignorance of this legacy.
Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Hansel and Gretel… The breadth of our fairy tale heritage is vast, yet many parents, perhaps overcome by our recent preoccupation with political correctness, are turning away from these traditional stories. However, this is surely to do our children a disservice. Cinderella should not be critiqued for its attitude to women, based on its traditional portrayal of Cinders in the domestic sphere, or the stepmother as being wicked when, in reality, it is a story about the triumph of good over evil and the humble heroine succeeding above the vain and egotistical ugly sisters.
The point is, some aspects of a fairy tale will reflect the time in which they were written, hence attitudes will, at times, seem old fashioned but this does not mean they should be relegated to the top shelf. Fairy tales help children to understand the world because they provide a framework within which children can develop their comprehension of the universal questions of life. Unlike many modern stories aimed at children, they do not teach or preach their lessons by direct instruction, but are far subtler. This allows the child to gradually build up their understanding through inference and suggestion, hence they may come to realise that it is Baby Bear, the smallest and most vulnerable of the family that Goldilocks, the heroine of the tale, comes to most closely associate herself with, or that the love of a parent means they will go to extraordinary lengths for their offspring, as evinced by ‘Beauty and the Beast.’
The fairy tale helps children to begin to enunciate and recognise their own thoughts and feelings. Stories such as Hansel and Gretel and Little Red Riding Hood have been criticised in recent years for being too maudlin and frightening, however, they are fundamental to the growth of a child’s emotional literacy. The wicked wolf in Little Red Riding Hood may be terrifying but this fear is located within the safe bounds of a story. It allows children to recognise and explore fear in a controlled manner. Children are naturally concerned and curious about the darker side of life, fairy tales meet this need by refusing to shy away from difficult subjects, they respond to the fundamental questions of life and death and help children to begin to understand what it means to be a person.
The fairy tale also serves an important function in answering the innate needs of a child. According to Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs,’ children require a moral code within which to frame the world and this is, without doubt, played out across the entire fairy tale genre. They provide the stereotype of good versus evil, the wicked witch in Hansel and Gretel, the stepmother in Cinderella, and channel children’s innate wish for good to triumph over evil: whoever heard of a fairytale that didn’t end ‘and they all lived happily ever after!’
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